Painful Words
by Yasmia
Summary: ..::BlackRose & Kazu are alone in a house in The Real World, but what happens when one of them falls into a coma?::.. Theme Song 'Blurry' by Puddle of Mudd..:: As for BlackRose's name, It says Akira because I was told her name was Akira! ::..
1. A Goodbye Confrontation

**Authors Note: **This is the first chapter of this fic and there are many more to come. I put a lot of work into this over the past few months and well... I'd really appreciate it if you R&R.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own .hack/ or any of the characters, except maybe Akira and Kazu's 'Real World' personalities

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**Painful Words**

Akiraand Kazu, two average siblings preparing for a week alone. Their parents were going away for the weekend to a holiday spa to celebrate their sixteenth weeding anniversary.Akira was planning a sleepover with all of her friends and was busy writing the invitations in-between her little brother Kazu annoying her.

"Just get lost Kazu!" she yelled at him, throwing one her cuddly toys in his direction.

"Akira! What have I told you about bullying Kazu, he's only nine years old!" Her mother said as soon as she saw what was happening.

"Sorry mom."Akira whined a fake apology her mom's way as she was told of again.

Her mother sighed; she was beginning to haves second thoughts about leavingAkira and Kazu alone in a house for three days. She feared that when she came home she would be living in a pile of rubble. At the timeAkira was getting extremely annoyed with her parents because they hadn't left yet, and when she did get annoyed she usually took that anger out on Kazu.

Kazu, by this time had sensed Akira's annoyance and drifted back into his one bedroom to read one of the new games magazines his mother had brought for him to keep him occupied and out of Akira's way most of the time. It was in this magazine that Kazu saw the article for his most favorite game in the entire world and the world's latest craze. 'The World' had just been released in countries all around the world over the internet and was already the most popular MMORPG around. Kazu had recently started playing the game, and had become quite a well-known face, the only problem was that his computer terminal was in Akira's bedroom and he usually wasn't allowed in there; not without a fight first.

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**Authors Note:** Well that was the first chapter sorry it was a little short but hope you liked it anyway, more coming soon! 


	2. It Started With A Game

**Authors Note**: Ok, this is anther short chappie, but they do get longer as the fic goes on. I promise

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As soon as her parents had pulled away from the drive and the siblings had waved goodbye to them, Akira picked up the phone to call her friends to continue planning her secret sleepover. Kazu took this opportunity to sneak into Akira's bedroom and turn on the computer. He loaded 'The World' log-in screen and typed in his characters name 'Kazu' and his password _akira, _he picked his sisters name as his password because it was something he cared about but also something no-one would ever think to guess. Kazu knew he was taking a risk by using the computer without askingAkira first but he continued to wonder around the game anyway, buying weapons, re-stocking healing items and trying to contact the friends he had made within the game so far in the few weeks he had been playing. Kazu has just saved the changes he had made to his character data when his internet cable was disconnected.

"Nice try brat."Akira whispered into his ear. "Now be a good boy and get lost." She said pointing towards the door, telling him to leave her alone.

"But I was here first." He pleaded trying to argue back as he always did.

"I don't care. It's my room, so get out of it." She said pushing him gently out of the door and closing it behind her.

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**Authors Note:** Well there is was, hope you liked it. Plesase R&R 


	3. Cat and Mouse

**Authors Note: **Sorry this chapter took so long to show its face, but its here now and its a little longer than the other two. I hope you guys like it, please R&R

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Kazu sat on the fluffy cream carpet outside Akira's bedroom door, he heard her dial a number on the phone, after a moment she began to speak, she was calling her best friend, a person that Kazu hated. Kazu decided that it was wrong of her to deny him access to their computer that they had to share just because it was in her bedroom; he began to yell at the top of his tiny voice. "Akira is a bully! Akira is a bully! Akira is a bully!" over and over again.  
Akira heard Kazu's attempt to annoy her, and it was working; she began to get very annoyed with her little brother. "Takara, listen, I'm gonna have to call you back. Kazu's really pissing me off." She said and slammed the phone down without waiting to hear her friend's response.  
Kazu heard Akira's footsteps towards the door; he froze when he saw her door swing open.  
Akira marched over to him and hit him on the head. "Look, brat, I've got a party to organize, so shut it, okay?" she snapped, bending down to his height.

Kazu knew the best way to annoy Akira and get what he wanted was to act like a child. He slipped past her, pushed her from behind and ran down the stairs where he stopped at the bottom. "Make me." He called up to her.

Akira stood back up to her normal height, sighed to herself and tried to maintain a normal relaxed composure. "Fine, maybe I will." She said to herself taking her first few steps down the stairs.  
Kazu waited for Akira to reach the bottom before her ran into the living room. There he bounced onto the sofa yelling. "Akira's a bully!" again.

Akira stood in the door way trying not to let Kazu get under her skin.  
When Kazu finally noticed that Akira was ignoring him and watched a TV show on the television, it was a popular anime known as Chobits. Akira knew a lot about it, but she had already seen that episode, so there was no real need for her to need to watch it, he bounced across the sofa over to her and ruffled her hair, making it quite messy. He then laughed at his actions.  
Akira pushed Kazu away, as she pushed him he feel from the sofa onto the carpet below. "Kazu, you little idiot, just leave me alone you're really stating to piss me off, just get out of my life, you're so annoying."

Chobits had been interrupted with a strange looking man with glasses sitting in a chair reading apiece of paper. "This is an urgent newsflash to all who play 'The World'" The news reader read from a piece of paper.  
At the mention of his new favourite pass time the TV had Kazu's full attention. "Akira, be quiet for a minute please, you can yell at me afterwards." He said softly.  
Akira who was already getting annoyed with her parents for leaving her with Kazu for a weekend was desperate to get out of his presence. "Fine, whatever" she said sitting down on the sofa, trying to sort out her hair thanks to her little brother Akira wanted to leave Kazu, but she hadn't finished yelling at him, and 'The World' was something she wanted to get involved with, but because her brother had played it before her he would call her a copycat, which was something she hated, she sat on the sofa, her legs spread across the other seat as if she were lying in bed; she watched the report about 'The World' without making it obvious that she was interested in watching it.

Kazu lay on the floor, head rested in his hands, legs waving around in the air, he was watching with undivided attention as the news reporter spoke.

"We have had many reports of children falling into comas after playing this game. We have just received news from Tokyo General Hospital that two more people, a boy and a girl aged 14 fell into a coma while playing the game, but doctors are still sticking to their statement that it is impossible for a game to comatose a person. We have tried to speak with the Chairman of CC Corp, but all we were told is that they are looking into the game from the inside and that they will fix any bugs as soon as possible, players have been asked to report anything suspicious to the system admin within the game itself. The only other thing I have to say to all you on-line gamers is to be very cautious. The news reporter said before the screen faded black and the scheduled showing of Chobits continued.

Akira quickly turned off the TV and returned to stand by the door; she picked up a cushion from the sofa, throwing it at Kazu's head. "Hey brat." She said as if throwing it at him wasn't enough to grab his attention. "Want to pay your stupid game?" she asked, trying to be nice to him by using reverse psychology.

"Will you let me?" he asked, his eyes looked hopeful the only other time Akira had let him use the computer was when she was forced to.

"Whatever. Just don't you dare speak to me." She turned her back, heading towards the kitchen.

"Thanks sis. You're the best." He said, running up the stairs before Akira changed her mind and told him to get lost.

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**Authors Note: **Read it? Well, tell me whatcha think. 


	4. Keywords

**Author's Note:** Again this chapter took a longtime, but the fic is getting here piece by piece, it won't be long before the next chapter is up. Thanks to you people who are faithfully reading my work

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"Welcome to The World." The computer said as Kazu logged in. He checked the boards for any updates on events that were taking place within the game. There was news of a character's real world controller falling into a coma after trying to fight a monster with a strange body structure and a red wand.

Kazu's character wondered around the Root Town of the Delta Server, Aqua Capital Mac Anu. Delta Server was the only server he could survive in because of his lack of experience towards the game and the low level he was at.

Akira stormed into her room and threw herself onto her bed, she was obviously not happy about Kazuhiro being in her bedroom but she knew it was the only way to keep him quite was to let him play his game.

"Hey Akira." Kazu said, not looking away from the computer screen.

No answer

"Hey Akira."

Still no answer

"Hello… Akira… I'm trying to speak to you." He said still not turning away from his game.

Akira sighed. "What?" she snapped, "I've let you play your little game and you still insist on bugging me.

Kazu stepped away from the computer terminal, his character froze, a strange expression on his face. "I only want you to give me some key words." He whined, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Akira, who knew perfectly well what a key words was due to her secret interest in the game pretended she had no idea what he was talking about. "I told you already, I have no clue what the hell you are babbling about" What the hell is a key word?" She said, her voice raised to shout at her little brother.

Kazuhiro never liked it when Akira yelled at him, in face it scared him and upset him, but he always tried his hardest to not let this show because if he did, Akira would laugh at him and call him a baby. "Well…" He said, still trying hard not to get upset. "A Keyword is part of a field area name. When three keywords are put together they open the link to a unique field area. The keywords of each area decide on the type of monsters you have to fight, and –"he began to explain in a very detailed manor before he was hit on the head with a pink fluffy bunny that not even Akira's best friends had ever seen.

"Just shut up Kazu, you're really pissing me off!" she said, covering her head with a pillow to block out the sounds of Kazu's annoying voice.

"Fine. I was only answering your question. But will you just give me three key words… please?" he continued to whine, bouncing up and down like an over excited child at Christmas.

"Fine!" Akira snapped, stomping over to the computer terminal. She read the words on the screen and pretend to take her time over it, but she was actually admiring the great graphical work of the game, it was amazing, the sounds of the wind rushed out of the speakers, she was speechless at how hi-tech the game really was. After reading all of the keywords she selected the three that sounded best to her and red them out to her brother who was watching her with inquisitive eyes. "Hidden… Forbidden … Holy Ground."

"Thanks Akira." Kazu gleamed entering the words into the computer.

"Yeah whatever now get lost." Akira mumbled throwing herself back onto her bed. She picked up the phoned and dialed her best friend's number. When the phone started to ring and Akina answered, she left her bedroom leaving her brother a threatening message as she did. "Don't mess up my room you brat."


	5. Inquisitive

**Authors Note:** This issmall andpuney chapter, but I didn't really want to drag this part out for too long. I hope you enjoy it and, if you read it, tell me whatcha think.

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Kazuhiro entered the keywords into the computer; the first thing he noticed was that the field area was not like a normal field area, instead of being an open spread of grass or sand there was one single walkway leading up to a building. At first Kazu wondered around the edges of the building, looking for anything to fight or any treasure that had been left behind; to his disappointment he found nothing. Intrigued by the strange area Kazu headed into the actual building. The inside looked like a church from the real world with dull colours and rows of seats on either side of an aisle; at the front of the church where the altar should have been there was a stone looking statue of a person who seemed to be crying. Kazu treated this place as if it were a holy place of worship, he treated everything with the care and respect he treated things with in the real world; and although Kazuhiro knew he was playing a game, he felt honored to be in a church-like place. Kazu and his mother went to church every Sunday, unlike Akira and her father who didn't believe in religion at all. He took a few steps towards the statue that was standing before him attached to the walls with chains that wrapped themselves around the statue like snakes, restricting its movement, keeping the girl's soul captive.

He stepped towards it, noticing a plaque that was stood in front of the bars separating him from the statue.

"To bring forth either salvation or destruction at the whim of the user." came a mysterious voice from behind him. Kazu turned to see who was there, there was no-one. Kazu shook his head and forgot about it, he stepped a little more forward to get a closer look at the writing on the plaque, it was a little dusty, he wiped away the dust to read the writing. The dust cleared to reveal three words, but the other dust would not move, and this meant Kazu could only see a small part of the writing.


	6. The Mysterious Red Wand

**Authors Note:** Very short but not sweet. I felt so mean doing that to BlackRose's brother. Sorry Kazuhiro... And just for the record, 'Red Wand' if anyone didn't know, is Skeith.

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Akira stormed back into her bedroom after hearing the strange voice speak to her brother. "I thought I told you to keep it down." She snapped opening the draw on her dressing table, pulling out a little black book, it was a diary.

Kazu didn't stop to apologize to his sister, he was too curious about the plaque said. "Skeith……Innis……Magus……" that was all Kazu was able to read, the rest was still covered in the dust he could not move.

A grey human shaped monster of which Kazu had never seen before in 'The World' appeared in front of him. Kazu's eyes widened as this monster fitted the description of the thing that had been named 'Red Wand' this monster had been described as dangerous and it was standing right in front of him. Kazu looked to where the creature's eyes should have been but weren't, he stepped backwards in fear and backed into the bar behind him.

Red Wand stretched its right arm out towards Kazu, as he did transparent multi-coloured bracelet appeared around what could be described as its wrist.

Kazu's eyes widened as the bracelet materialized and a stream of colours surrounded him. He screamed as pain shot through his entire body from head to foot. Kazuhiro's virtual headset fell to the ground followed shortly by his body. The screams died out and the Game Over screen appeared on the monitor; Red Wand disappeared as swiftly as it came.


	7. Realisation

**Authors Note: **Sorry for the delay in the chapter. I've been quite ill recently and haven't been on-line as much as I usually am... well... anyway,its here now. Enjoy!

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Akira lay on her bed watching her brother fall to the floor; his face was turned away from her, she was sure that Kazu would be fighting against his laughter in a attempt to panic his sister into thinking that he had become 'The World's' newest victim; when in fact Kazu was not just playing around, Kazu really had become 'The World's' newest victim. Akira decided that it was best to leave her brother alone to make him realize that he was not going to get the attention she thought he wanted. She ignored him and continued to write her journal.

Moments later Akira realized that he brother hadn't moved, in fact he was still lying in the exact same spot; he didn't seem to be breathing as much as he should. Akira decided that this was just another of Kazu's pranks, she threw a stuffed toy at him. Still he didn't move. Akira got off her bed, forcefully turning her brothers head towards her, hitting it against the leg of the computer desk; still he didn't react, surely that must have hurt him; this caused Akira to begin a huge panic. She ran out of her room and down the stairs in a panicked frenzy. She dialed the emergency services and asked for an ambulance; she explained the details of the accident; gave the address and rushed back upstairs to be by her brother's side.

Akira found herself unable to focus on anything; she had already called her parents and told them about what had happened and told them to come home. By the time the ambulance arrived Akira had managed to move her brother onto her bed to make him more comfortable, she led the paramedics to her bedroom where they examined Kazuhiro's lifeless body while she waited outside the room, finding it unbearable to watch. When they had finished examining him, the paramedics called Akira back into the room. They gently told her that her brother would have to be taken into hospital for further examination and testing.

The two paramedics fixed Kazu onto a stretcher and took him out of the house into an ambulance. Akira followed behind them trying not to cry in front of her little brother, she had to be strong for him, to make sure that if he did wake up, she was there for him.

Akira watched as the paramedics slammed the ambulance doors shut and started the siren to notify all traffic that this was an emergency situation; she sat on the bench next to Kazu's bed. Looking at her younger brother through tear-stained eyes she remembered a time when Kazu was just five years old, it had been Akira's eleventh birthday party, and Kazu had knocked her entire cake on the floor; at the time Akira was very annoyed with him and thought that he had done it just to ruin her day; but looking at him now she could see his innocence, she could see that he had not meant any harm by it. Akira increased the grip she had on Kazu's hand. "Come on Kazuhiro, wake up" she whispered; Akira lost the fight against herself and let a tear trickle down her cheek.


	8. The Pains of a Hospital

**Authors Note: **I seem to be putting a lot of this foc up recently. It's almost finished now. All I need to do is put up about 2 more chapter and hey-presto it'll be done! Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this fic!

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At the hospital Akira had once again been asked to wait outside while the doctors and nurses put Kazu into bed. When she was finally allowed to see her brother, nothing could have prepared her for what she was. It was devastating. Her little brother had been connected to so many machines; he looked like a Cyborg. There was a machine to track his heartbeats per minute; a machine constantly measuring his blood pressure which was extremely low, a wire in this nose to open his airway, an oxygen mask to give him the right amount of Oxygen levels his blood needed and the final machine was the life support machine that the paramedics had mentioned. Akira's eyes filled with tears and she suddenly felt sick, with the help of a nurse she was able to sit down and with a shaky hand she managed to touch her brother's hair. "Kazuhiro… I…-"She tried to speak to him but she couldn't find the words she wanted to say. Instead she cried; she cried in front of her little brother, something she hadn't done since that birthday party all those years ago.

"Don't cry" came a voice from behind her.

Akira raised her head, wiping a tear she turned to see the face of the familiar voice she had just heard. Her parents were standing in the doorway. "Oh mom." She said, running to her.

Her mother held Akira in her arms. "There, there honey." She said, trying to comfort her. "It's ok." She sighed… _he'll be ok…_

Akira nodded. "I'm going to get some air." She said walking past her parents out of the door.

"I'll come with you." Her father called, thinking she shouldn't be on her own right now.

"I'd rather be alone right now, dad… sorry." She said, her back still turned away, then she continued walking. She stopped at the toilet, she looked in the mirror, her blue eyes were red from crying, and her white hair was messy; she felt like she needed a shower. She splashed her face with water and left the bathroom, heading outside.

When she returned to her brother's hospital room, Kazu and her parents were all sleeping. She looked at the clock; it was 11:30pm. "What a day…" she said, putting her head on her fathers shoulder. Her dad woke her mother, they said their goodbyes and left the hospital as visiting time had finished hours ago and the nurses needed to do their next set of checks on Kazuhiro.


	9. Perfect Creation

**Authors Note: **Ok, so this is the last chapter of this fic. It ismy first fic to have more than one chapter. I hope everyone liked reading it. Thanks to all of you that have read it.

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Akira was silent in the car journey home, and when she did get home she went straight to her bedroom. She noticed the Game Over screen was still on. She clicked it off and the log-in page appeared. Her curiosity got the better of her here, she clicked the register button.

A soothing female voice could be heard through the headset speaker. "Please select a gender for you character." It said. Akira clicked the female button.

"Please select a class."

"Class…? What's that?" She whispered to herself. _I want something to represent me… _at first she clicked the Long Arm button. A picture of a current Long Arm player appeared on the screen as an example. "Stupid." Was Akira's first reaction.

Twin Blade - … "Geeky"

Heavy Axeman - **"… … **Okay…weird"

Blade Master - "What kinda stupid excuse for a weapon is that… it looks like a stick…" she said out loud, not realizing that her parents had both gone to bed.

Wave Master – "They heal! What! No way!"

Heavy Bade. The picture appeared just as it had done for all the other character options. "Now that's my kinda character." She said to herself, amazed at how impressive the character looked.

"Character appearance. Eyes."

The screen filled with hundreds if pairs of eyes, all staring at Akira. "Okay… that's not creepy…" she said she began to scroll through all the option she had. _Those ones _She thought to herself clicking a pair of red ones that seemed to stand out to her more than the others. The screen changed and hairstyles appeared. Long hair, short hair all different colours. Akira wanted something that looked like her hair, long and white, she clicked that but with the red eyes she had picked it reminded her of how she looked in the mirror of the hospital. In the corner of her eye she spotted a short white hair style with little bits of pink to add some colour. She clicked it. "Perfect." She mumbled. "It really suits her. I like it"

Next the computer asked her to chose her clothes. There were lots of different clothes; skirts, shorts, dresses, none of which were particularly appealing to Akira. She wanted here character to wear trousers. She noticed two designs at the very end of the options; they had a metal breast-plate and trousers that had thorns around the sides. "wow." She said clicking it. !I must have the best characters in the entire game." A smile lit Akira's face.

The next part of the character design was a colour scheme. Akira whined. "My character is perfect already…" Looking at her again she noticed one little tiny problem that could easily be fixed. "But then again… the colours could probably be a tiny bit darker…! She clicked the colour contrast button; she dimmed the red in the breast plate and the colours of the roses on the trousers. "Now that is perfect."

Akira had completely created hr character, everything about her character showed power, determination and strength but most of all Akira felt a connection with this character already. "Now all you need is a name." She said she looked around her room, she could hear the ticking if the clock, it was 2:30am, she had been working on this character or a few hours at least. She typed BLACKROSE she clicked the finished button. The computers voice came from the headset again. "Welcome to 'The World'. Character – BlackRose."

"I don't know what I have to do, but I will save Kazuhiro. Whatever dangers we go through. We're a team now BlackRose."

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- MissRikku

19th June 2005 - 10th November 2005


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